New British PM in Germany for talks with Merkel

British Prime Minister Theresa May will travel to Berlin on Wednesday for talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel, as she uses her first overseas trip as prime minister to launch a post-Brexit foreign policy in Europe.

Merkel and May’s working dinner is likely to be dominated by discussion of Britain leaving the EU but they are also likely to touch on the trading relationship between the two countries, the migration crisis and Islamist terrorism.

May will also meet Francois Hollande, French president, in Paris on Thursday, in a sign of her determination to calm tensions with key European leaders after the Brexit vote.

Merkel has urged patience with the UK in the face of demands from other EU member states, including France, that Britain should trigger Article 50, the formal exit mechanism, as soon as possible.

But she has also taken a tough stance on any Brexit negotiations, warning the UK that if it wants to retain access to the single market it will have to accept freedom of movement.

May, the former home secretary, is expected to offer Hollande full British defence and security cooperation to tackle terrorism, as she tries to stress common interests between Britain and France.

But Hollande, who faces French elections next year, wants to make it clear that Britain will pay a price for leaving the EU, in order to fend off rising Euroscepticism in his country.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front, who is expected to qualify for the second round of the presidential election, is set to campaign for Frexit — a French exit from the EU.